The Importance of Relationships in Social Work

The Importance of Relationships in Social Work

Jim Kennedy

Special Report March 2019

Careknowledge Pavilion Publishing and Media Ltd Rayford House, School Road, Hove, Sussex BN3 5HX. Tel : 01273 434943 E: info@

@CareKnowledge : CareKnowledge

Copyright Pavilion Publishing and Media 2019 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

2

1. Introduction

This Special Report has been pulled together to mark this year's World Social Work Day on the 19th of March, which focuses on promoting the importance of human relationships. The Report draws attention to some of the key content to which we provide access, that has something important to say on the subject of relationships.

Although some of the publications in the report are applicable specifically to England, the bulk of the issues discussed, and the material available, have relevance across the UK ? and, in some cases ? internationally.

Social work is arguably, to a much greater extent than many other professions, founded on a belief in the value of human relationships. It is also a profession which is highly dependent, for its impact, on the establishment and maintenance of effective relationships ? with the children and adults whom it supports, with their families and communities, and with fellow professionals and the agencies for whom they work. If those relationships are not well-established, or sustained, or if they fail, the consequences can be serious, and, at the extreme, fatal, for some of the most vulnerable people in society.

Of course, individual social workers are not solely responsible for the maintenance of that full web of relationships, and managers, employers and the agencies with whom social workers are engaged must play a full part in creating the conditions in which positive relationships can flourish. But there remains a core responsibility, on individual practitioners, to maximise the opportunities that are available to support effective relationships; and to seek wider solutions if those are less available than they should be, or, are absent.

With that introduction in mind, it is perhaps slightly disappointing that the centrality of relationships to the practice of social work has not been given quite the prominence in recent years as may have been the case in the past. Although a wide range of publications ? some of which are highlighted later in this report ? are available, through CareKnowledge, that, in part, address the subject, there are fewer that can be said to centre wholeheartedly or, in full detail, on relationships.

We were also a little surprised to note that the definition of social work ? promulgated by the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), the main sponsors of World Social Work Day ? has been changed fairly recently. The previous definition is still referred to by a number of organisations and features in several of the reports highlighted below.

The original definition ran as follows:

"The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilising theories of human behaviour and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work."

The new definition ? approved by the IFSW General Meeting and the International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) General Assembly in July 2014 drops the specific reference to relationships:

"Social work is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people. Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central to social work. Underpinned by theories of social work, social sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledge, social work engages people and structures to address life challenges and enhance wellbeing. The above definition may be amplified at national and/or regional levels."

There are good reasons for the change in definition, discussed on the IFSW website, but the omission of reference to relationships jars a little with the chosen focus for World Social Work Day.

The current BASW definition set out in this House of Commons Briefing also makes no specific reference to the importance of relationships: "Social work is a profession that is centred around people ? from babies through to older people... Social workers work with individuals and families to help improve outcomes in their lives. This may be helping to protect vulnerable people from harm or abuse or supporting people to live independently. Social workers support people, act as advocates and direct people to the services they may require. Social workers often work in multi-disciplinary teams alongside health and education professionals."

Whilst all of the above may confirm something of an absence of an `on-the-label' focus on the importance of relationships in social work, there are a significant number of publications, available, through CareKnowledge that do address the issue in their more detailed material. In what follows, we've selected a number of those publications and, in some cases, highlighted content that speaks to the importance of relationships with people who use services and their families and communities; with colleagues including supervisors and managers; and with and between agencies.

2. Standards

2.1 BASW's refreshed Professional Capabilities Framework for Social Work in England includes these key expectations for qualified social workers. They must:

? Acknowledge the centrality of relationships for people and the key concepts of attachment, separation, loss, change and resilience

? Demonstrate the ability to engage with people, and build, manage, sustain and conclude compassionate and effective relationships

? Identify and understand the impact of the power invested in the SW role on relationships and interventions, and have the ability to adapt practice accordingly

? Build and use effective relationships with a wide range of people, networks, communities and professionals to improve outcomes, showing an ability to use appropriate assessment frameworks, applying information gathering skills

to make and contribute to assessments, whilst continuing to build relationships and offer support ? Work effectively as a member of a team, demonstrating the ability to develop and maintain appropriate professional and inter-professional relationships, managing challenge and conflict, with support ? Promote a culture which supports empathetic compassionate relationships with other professionals, people who use services, and those who care for them ? Promote positive working relationships in and across teams, using strategies for collaboration and contribute to a supportive organisational culture ? Develop strategic engagement, influence and relationships with a range of stakeholder groups

2.2 The Knowledge and Skills Statements for Child and Family Social Workers

The Statements, now with titles establishing them as post-qualifying standards under Section 42 of the Children and Social Work Act 2017, cover child and family practitioners, their supervisors and practice leaders. Published by the Department for Education (DfE) and applicable in England they say that social workers must:

? Build effective relationships with children, young people and families, which form the bedrock of all support and child protection responses. Be both authoritative and empathic and work in partnership with children, families and professionals, enabling full participation in assessment, planning, review and decision making

? Help children to separate from, and sustain, multiple relationships recognising the impact of loss and change

? Observe and talk to children in their environment including at home, at school, with parents, carers, friends and peers to help understand the physical and emotional world in which the child lives, including the quality of child and parent/carer interaction and other key relationships

? Reflect on the emotional experience of working relationships with parents, carers and children, and consciously identify where personal triggers are affecting the quality of 7 analysis or help. Identify strategies to build professional resilience and management of self

? Maintain personal and professional credibility through effective working relationships with peers, managers and leaders both within the profession, throughout multi-agency partnerships and public bodies, including the family courts.

Practice supervisors must:

? Demonstrate optimistic behaviour, and build positive relationships with children and families and other professionals

? Apply a proportionate and ethical approach to the exercise of authority, which develops and maintains relationships with families and professionals and ensures the protection of children

? Recognise the patterns of relationships between professionals, identifying where these are likely to compromise the welfare of families and the safety of children, taking immediate and corrective action

? Build relevant relationships with children and families and professionals to test current hypotheses and dominant perspectives

? Recognise how different relationships evoke different emotional responses, which impact upon the effectiveness of social work practice and provide responsive, high quality individual supervision

2.3 The Knowledge and Skills Statement for Social Workers in Adult Services

The Statement, published by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and, again, applicable in England, says that social workers:

? Need to apply a wide range of knowledge and skills to understand and build relationships, and work directly with individuals, their families and carers to enable and empower them to achieve best outcomes

? Should focus on the links between the individual, their health and wellbeing and their need for relationships and connection with their families, community and wider society

? Need to be able to work directly with individuals and their families through the professional use of self, using interpersonal skills and emotional intelligence to create relationships based on openness, transparency and empathy. They should know how to build purposeful, effective relationships underpinned by reciprocity

? Will, for example, be able to complete assessments of need independently, which start from a perspective of the service users' desired outcomes and have become more effective in their interventions; deal with more complex situations; develop respectful and situation-appropriate professional relationships, thus building their own confidence; and earning the confidence and respect of others

2.4 Post-Qualifying Standards for Social Work Practice Supervisors in Adult Social Care

The Statement, published by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), and, again, applicable in England, says that practice supervisors should:

? Build positive relationships with adults and their carers and other professionals through their professionalism and optimistic attitude, as appropriate and model this approach to others

? Support social workers to develop influential and respectful working relationships with partner agencies

? Develop a collaborative, supervisory partnership in which the relationships with adults in need of care and support have a central position

? Recognise the impact that relationships with the [people with whom they are working] may have on social workers, including [those who use services] and

their carers, as well as other professionals, and [consider how these can influence practice effectiveness]

Practice supervisors should recognise the dynamics of relationships between professionals, identifying where these are likely to compromise the well-being of adults and take immediate and corrective action.

[Understand} that reflective supervision involves helping, through supervision processes, to create an environment which enables such learning and reviewing to take place. This means first and foremost that a reflective supervisor needs to model a critically reflective ability in their own approach to relationships in the organisation

3. The relevant literature

Relationship-Based Practice: Emergent Themes in Social Work Literature

This report is part of the Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services' (IRISS) `Insight series'. It sets out to review the literature on relationship-based practice in social work and includes discussion on:

? The historical context ? The philosophical underpinnings for such practice ? Care ethics ? Relevant policy ? Professionalism ? Boundaries and barriers ? The use of self ? Transference and counter-transference ? And reflective practice

The report argues that:

? There are compelling philosophical, policy and practice reasons to put relationships at the heart of social work

? The importance of relationships is increasingly recognised in `people work' but especially in social work and social care, across all domains of practice

? Effective relationships are central to successful outcomes ? Current policy directions in Scotland are rooted in the need for effective

personal/ professional relationships ? Relationships are complex, requiring an awareness of `self' and the

negotiation of inter-personal boundaries ? Current practice cultures can make it difficult to practice in properly relational

ways and would require a radical shift for issues of power, agency and status to be addressed

4. Practice and supervision

4.1 Signs of Safety

In this Special Report for CareKnowledge, Wendy Hill described the key elements of the Signs of Safety approach and set out this core underlying principle which might

stand as suitably brief summary for much else that is said across the publications in this current report:

Constructive working relationships between professionals and family members, and between professionals themselves, is at the heart and soul of effective practice. Compassionate relationships, working `with' not `doing to' are the bedrock of human change and growth.

4.2 Empathy, Tenacity and Compassion

In October 2015 Brighton & Hove implemented relationship-based practice as a whole system change across Children's Social Work Services. The new model of practice, the Team Around the Relationship, involved a move to small social work teams, or pods, which support children from the assessment stage through the whole of their journey across social work services.

The Team Around the Relationship is premised on the idea that, if social workers feel safe and contained, they can build relationships with families and use these relationships to affect change. The model of practice, therefore, incorporates group supervision, reflective practice groups and a new model of relationship-based assessment and recording, One Story, as key processes to support whole system change. The practice system is supported by a cultural transformation towards becoming a relationship-based organisation, which inspires trust and confidence in its practitioners.

To measure the impact of the Team Around the Relationship the Council is undertaking an ongoing evaluation based on a targeted consultation to test its theory of change. The evaluation focuses on the context, mechanisms and outcomes of the model of practice. This paper outlines the findings of the evaluation so far and sets out the key messages from the first 20 months.

The evaluation has found that, in general:

? Families have a better experience of social work ? Social workers feel more supported and more able to make a difference for

families ? Relationship-based practice seems to be supporting safe and stable family

lives for children ? The model of practice appears to have decreased demand for social work (a

5.4% decrease in the number of open families) and high-level interventions (a 10% decrease in both children with child protection plans and in care) during a time of increasing national demand

4.3 Culturally Competent Practice

This CareKnowledge briefing pulls together a number of the references that are available on culturally sensitive practice or on closely associated subjects. Establishing and sustaining relationships with people with a wide range of cultural ? and sometimes very different ? cultural backgrounds is an increasingly important part of effective social work.

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download